Feature Archives

Incredible and amazing: Strand, Krogh share superlatives after Stock Car Stampede wins

JAMESTOWN, N.D. (Sept. 24, 2022) – Shawn Strand became a two-time champion while Luke Krogh was a two-time winner at Jamestown Speedway’s 51st annual Stock Car Stampede. Strand added a bookend trophy to the hardware he took home in 2020 and earned $3,000 for his Friesen Performance IMCA Modified feature win. Krogh won the first-ever Stampede main event for IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars and the Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMod main, collecting $2,000 for each. One hundred and eleven IMCA cars ran in Jamestown’s traditional season-ending special. “This was incredible,” said Strand, who passed Wayne Johnson for the lead and then outran hard charger Kollin Hibdon in the race to the Modified checkers. “This is our most prestigious race in North Dakota. To get the first (trophy) on my shelf was amazing. To get the second one … I’m almost speechless.” “Since the Stampede went IMCA we’ve run pretty well,” continued Strand, who sat out last year’s event after selling his car. “Just the last couple years we’ve had even better success.” He’d started the 25-lapper [Read More]

Morris has whale of a weekend at Ocean with Pettit Shootout IMCA Modified sweep

WATSONVILLE, Calif. (Sept. 23-24, 2022) – Troy Morris III had a pair of DNQ’s to show for his first Pettit Shootout outings in 2020. He has a pair of Friesen Performance IMCA Modified feature wins to show from his second trip to Ocean Speedway’s season-ending special. The Bakersfield driver led every lap of Friday’s $1,003 to win main event and the last 18 circuits while checking out in Saturday’s $3,006 to win 53-lapper. “I was super pumped,” said Morris, who won ahead of Bobby Hogge IV and Cody Burke on night one, and was six seconds in front of Nick DeCarlo and then Burke on night two. “I was feeling good after Friday but to be able to win again on Saturday was really special.” “I grew up watching my dad race there and his birthday is the week after the Pettit,” continued Morris, who celebrates his 19th birthday in early October. “It was fun to go up there and win for him.” Morris started outside row one on Friday and had Hogge, a double winner [Read More]

Raffurty wraps up 30-win season with checkers at father’s IMCA STARS Mod Lite memorial race

GRAIN VALLEY, Mo. (Sept. 24, 2022) – Dillon Raffurty’s 30th win of the 2022 IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing season will be the one he’ll treasure most. Raffurty put the wraps on the IMCA STARS Mod Lite campaign with the $2,064 checkers at Valley Speedway’s inaugural David Raffurty Memorial, held in honor of Raffurty’s late father and fellow driver, who died in January. “This is the one I wanted to win most of all,” he said. “All kinds of friends and family were there and it was a great show. Winning Super Nationals and the race of champions again was amazing but this win was closer to home.” The checkers were his 16th straight since July 9 and 17th in as many Grain Valley starts this season. After his uncle Rick piloted his father’s racer as the pace car, Raffurty started the 20-lapper from seventh. Following multiple cautions in the early going, he was in the lead by lap five and then had his hands full with challenger Brandon Freeburg, running side-by-side with the Illinois challenger after midway. [Read More]

DeBenedetti makes rare Skagit visit pay with $10,000 IMCA Survive the 55 victory

ALGER, Wash. (Sept. 24, 2022) – After picking his way through lapped traffic, Jon DeBenedetti picked up a $10,000 Friesen Performance IMCA Modified paycheck. The Rogue River, Ore., driver made a rare visit to Skagit Speedway pay off big time on Saturday night, leading the last half of the Survive the 55 special at Alger. “At this point in my career, to be at the top of my game pushing 25 years and win this race is really special,” said DeBenedetti, newly eligible to qualify for the Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational. “To come up here and be able to go against the best of the Pacific Northwest means a lot.” SDMF Chassis teammate Jesse Williamson was next to the checkers in the 55-lapper. Eston Whisler, Bricen James and Ian Whisler rounded out the top five. DeBenedetti was making just his second career start at Skagit after a runner-up finish in a weekly show there eight years ago and compared the Alger oval to Arkansas’ Batesville Motor Speedway. “It’s a very racy place,” he said. “I [Read More]

Brenten DeYoung is best at Great Lakes Nationals

CRYSTAL, Mich. (Sept. 18, 2022) – The latest addition to Team DeYoung’s Great Lakes Nationals trophy collection will have a special place in the display case. Brenten DeYoung topped the 50-lap, $3,000 to win special for Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds Sunday at Crystal Motor Speedway. The checkers were his career first at one of the premier events for the division in Michigan and in the Dirt Works Eastern Region, and came ahead of his father and seven-time Great Lakes Nationals king Myron. “It’s incredible,” the younger DeYoung said following his second feature win of the season at the family’s long-time home track. “This is a race I’ve wanted to win for a long time and I’m grateful to finally pull it off.” Fourth on the initial grid, he moved up to the outside of the front row following a lap one restart, used the outside line to pass pole starter Nathan Patrick going into the first turn and led every time around the track. Multiple cautions kept the field close throughout before DeYoung was able [Read More]

IMCA Super Nationals history for Olmstead with RoC win and Hobby Stock championship

BOONE, Iowa (Sept. 10, 2022) – Zach Olmstead thought he had the car to win the Saturday show at Boone Speedway last September. That same ride took him straight to the history book at the 40th annual IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s. Olmstead became the first driver to win both the Stephenville Starter Race of Champions and the Hobby Stock championship event at the same Super Nationals, topping Tuesday’s RoC and the Big Dance on Saturday. He had worked his way up from 10th starting and was running close, but not too close, to the front stretch calamity that kayoed race-long leader Brandon Nielsen, defending champion Mike Smith and Jimmy Johnson. “It’s humbling,” said Olmstead, who had finished fourth in his one prior main event start, in 2018. “Last year we won the Prelude and the race of champions. I felt like we had a winning car but got taken out and didn’t qualify. This year I wanted to go back and prove it.” Still on board the same 2019 Brendan Eilts Racing & [Read More]

Looft’s IMCA Super Nationals SportMod championship is best birthday present ever

BOONE, Iowa (Sept. 10, 2022) – Matthew Looft brought home his first IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s championship and the best birthday present an 8-year-old boy could ask for on the same night. Looft raced from 13th starting and held off familiar weekly foe Colby Fett Saturday in winning the Northern SportMod main event and $5,000 Saturday at Boone Speedway. “I promised to do my best to give my son Brayden a tall trophy for his eighth birthday,” said Looft, from Swea City and IMCA’s four-time and defending national champion. “We have gotten a lot of help from a lot of people and have won a lot of races and this was the biggest by far.” “A national championship is pretty cool. At Super Nationals there are 171 other cars and you’re racing against the best drivers in the country just to get in the feature,” he continued. “All the pressure is on one night. You can have some bad nights when you race during the season but you can’t have a bad [Read More]

Murty races to rare Stock Car repeat crown at IMCA Super Nationals

BOONE, Iowa (Sept. 10, 2022) – A race that began as a battle between two of the best young guns in the division became a battle between father and son on championship night at the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s. When both those battles at Boone Speedway were over, Dallon Murty had defended his Stock Car championship, becoming just the second driver in division history to go back-to-back at America’s Racin’ Vacation. “This was a really special win. There’s a lot of weight lifted off your shoulders when you’re the defending champion and can win again,” said Murty, 17 years old, from Chelsea and a senior at BGM High School. “Last year’s win was probably my best ever because it was my first. This win and last year are at the top of all my wins, by far.” A record 246 Stock Car drivers competed at the 40th annual Super Nationals and the main event saw 30 of the best of them racing for a $7,500 top check. Murty had become the youngest champion [Read More]

Berry wears Modified crown at 40th annual IMCA Super Nationals

BOONE, Iowa (Sept. 10, 2022) – A season that’s seen more than its share of high points for Tom Berry Jr. saw its highest on Saturday, in the final race of the 40th annual IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s. Berry added the title of Super Nationals champion to his already lengthy IMCA resume, passing Kollin Hibdon just before midway and leading to the end of the 40-lap Modified feature. More than 250 Modifieds were among the record 1,000 cars that competed at Boone Speedway during the week and Berry had the fastest of them in taking the $10,000 top check. “This was definitely our biggest win. It means a lot to our entire team,” said Berry, who won a host of special events around the Midwest leading up to Super Nationals. “We have been coming here since 2014 and we’ve been competitive the last four years.” “We’ve had our ups and downs at Boone,” continued the Oregon native, fourth in the Big Dance on 2020 and the first car out of last year’s [Read More]

Smooth ride takes Mikulencak to crown at IMCA Southern SportMod Super Nationals

KENNEDALE, Texas (Sept. 10, 2022) – His strategy was simple, once Marcus Mikulencak got to the front of Saturday’s Smiley’s Racing Products IMCA Southern SportMod Super Nationals feature field. “I tried to stay smooth and not make any mistakes,” Mikulencak said after taking the $5,000 checkers in the inaugural event at Kennedale Speedway Park. “We were pretty good up front but I figured with the competition we had that we could have company up there.” Bradley Poor and Brandon Geurin both advanced seven spots to finish second and third, respectively. Michael Dabney was a plus nine to fourth and Alex Hickham, winner of Friday’s All-Star race, ended in fifth. Mikulencak ran fourth and then won his second qualifying heat on opening night, drawing the inside row two start for the 30-lap main. “We didn’t make any changes in setup from Friday. We were able to get the lead early,” he said. “There were a couple cautions and we were able to get through lapped traffic pretty easy.” His career best payday included a $2,000 bonus [Read More]